Industrial truck



Dec. 16,1941.' -s. WEISS v 2,266,348

INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed Dec. 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 O O v 60 (9 13a 5: H 5 o 59 53 :31 o v 54 I c, a o 2 l o 5 6 3 48 44 43 14 2 7 Yr I SAMUEL Wms mvmox ATTORNEYS Dec. 16,1941. swm s -2,266,348

INDUSTRIAL TRUCK Filed Dec. 23,1940 v y ,2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill 39; 324 w 31 39 Z6 Z3 29 MN 24 5 Z5 r I'lg'. Z

SAMUEL WEISS ENTOR AWE-E Patented Dec. 16, 1941 Samuel Weiss, Portland, reg., assignor tch Vaughan MotorComponL'Inc Portland, Oreg.,j' n a corporation oforegon g 7 Application December 23, 1940, Serial No. 3 71 225 4 Claims. (Cl. 214 11 3 This invention relates to industrial trucks such 'asthose used in warehouses and-on docks for lifting and moving freight.

More specifically, this invention is concerned provide such tilting meanswhich willv be operated directly by the motor-driven shaft biit which can easily be controlled and adjusted so that the end-lift frame may thereby be'moved ineither 24 and 29. A second pulley 3| is direction or held without movement while the 55 opposite end of shaft 28.

motor-driven shaft nevertheless continues to rotate in one direction. i

. Theseobje'ctsl attain bycertain improvements v in my industrial truck including additional with an industrial truck of the type described in 5 means connected to the motor-driven shaft and my United States Letters Patent, No. 2,169,440, constructedand operated-as hereinafter briefly issued under dateof August 15, 1939, towhich described with reference to'the accompanying reference is made. In this truck a pair of clutch drawings. shafts are provided parallel to the motor-driven In the drawings: 7 shaft. One of 'the clutch shafts is connected Fig. l is a sideview, partially in section, of my to the end-lift or elevator on the truck and the industrial or end-lift'truck, showing in detail other clutch shaft is connected to the driving some of "the' elements which control the tilting wheels of the truck. Thus power from the moof the elevator or end-lift frame; tor-driven shaft can be applied simultaneously Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation taken on line 2-2 for operating the load-lifting means and for of Fig. Land showing only the principal elements driving'the truck. I in the-elevator tilting mechanism, with all other In end-lift trucks of the type described in my parts of the truck removed for thesake of clarity; above mentioned patent it is advisable and cus- Fig. -3'is a sectional elevation taken on line tomary to provide means for tilting the guide 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated frame of the end-lift or elevator to position the by the arrows; i 'load carried further over the truck soas to pre- Fig. 4 a section corresponding to line 4-4 ventpossible over-balancing of the truck by the of Fig. 3 and load} In the truck'described-in my abovemen- Fig. 5 is'a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 2. tioned' patent, No. 2,169,440, the tilting of the Referring first to'Fig; 1', the industrial truck end-lift frame is done by means of a manuallyillustrated comprises a chassis l0, a housing ll operated hand wheelwhich produces rotation of forQtheoperating mechanism, driving wheels II, a threaded shaft onf which "a nut is mounted, steering wheel or caster i3, steering-"wheel conthe lift frame being connected to the nut-by trol handle I311, elevator or end-lift l4, motor suitable links and levers. There is-a certain l5, and transmission l0. The construction and amount of inconvenience necessitated by :the operation of the-truck as'described thus far'are turning of such hand wheel on the-part'of. the explainedfully in my United States Patent No operator when it is desiredto tilt theend-lift 2,169,440; to which reference should be'hadQ 'The frame in one direction or the other, and during present invention is concemed specifically with the time required fortilting the frame to thedethe mechanism for tilting the elevator or end sired position the operator's hand cannot be lift in place of the hand op'eratedmeans shown used for operating any of the. other controls of in my Patent Nd; 2,169,440. the truck. i A sprocket I1 issecured to the main drive "The object of this invention is to provide addishaft or motor-driven shaft it between the motional motor-driven means, in place of the mantor l6 and the transmission or relatedactuating ually-operated means shown in the patentabove 40-mechanism. A second sprocket I9 is mounted mentioned, for producing the tilting of the end- 119011 Shaft Ill supported in a suitable bearing '11 a t frame 1 retainer 2| above the drive shaft. IS, the bear- A further object or this invention is to proin! retainer being secured to n d yvide such a motor-driven tiltingmeans which i the ,tmnsmlssion houswilloperate independently of the two clutch (F18; A sprqcket chain connects shafts thus permitting, the clutch shaftsto be ifi g "3 2 pzuney is Q w 7 used exclusively for driving the truck'and' for e 0 i Referring now to Fig. 2, a horizontal shaft 28 operating theelevator orend-lift respectively. is rjoumaled m a suitable bear.

mg member 21 A Still further e t of t invention is to -mounted on asupport 25 which in turn is'see cured to a bracket 26 'attachedto the housing. A pulley 29 is securedto one, end of the shaft 28 and an endless belt-I0 passes aroundpulleys secured to the A friction-wheel-supporting arm 32 comprises a hub 32a, which is journaled upon a shoulder 33 of bearing member 2'! (see Fig. a retainer 34 which is secured to hub 32a and journaled upon an opposite shoulder 35 of bearing member 21, and a pair of parallel bars 36 secured to the hub 32a by bolts 31. Thus the pulley shaft 28 is rotatable within the bearing member 21 while the friction-wheel-supporting arm 32 may be rotated partially about bearing member 21.

A bracket 38 (see Fig. 4) is adjustably secured between the parallel bars 36 by means of bolts 33 passing through slots 38a in the bars 36. The bracket 38 supports bearings 48 (Fig. 3) which are held in place by retainer plates 41 and in which a pair of shouldered parallel shafts 42 are journaled. The shafts 42 are located an equal distance on each side of the friction-wheel-supporting arm. A pulley 43 is secured to one end of each shaft 42 and friction wheels 44 and 44a are secured to the opposite ends. An endless belt 45 is mounted on the pulleys 43..and the pulley 3| (Fig. 2). Thus, as apparent from Fig. 2, rotation of the motor-driven shaft l8 causes rotation of pulley 24, pulley 3|, and friction wheels 44 and 44a, the rotation of all being in the same direction. A circumferentially flanged wheel 46 (Figs. 1 and 2), secured to the end of a worm gear shaft 41 (Fig. 2), has its circumferential flange 48 dis,- posed between the friction wheels 44 and 44a (Fig. 3). The worm gear 49 (Fig. 2) on the shaft 41 engages with worm wheel 58. A spur gear 5|, secured to the same shaft 52 as worm wheel 58, engages a gear 53 which is secured to a shaft 54. Another gear, identical to gear 53 (but not shown in the drawings), is also rigidly mounted on shaft 54 near' the opposite end. These gears act as pinions engaging a pair of rack-bars 55 (Fig. 1), the ends of which are pivotally-connected to sides of the frame of the end-lift [4. Thus movement of the rack-bars 55, produced by rotation of the gears or pinions 53, will cause the end-lift frame to tilt in a vertical plane. Each of the rack-bars 55 slides in a groove provided in a transversely-extending-tiltably-mounted plate 58, which plate 58, is supported at each end by a pair of arms 58 converging in a rockable bearing 56 rotatablymounted on a journal box 51 in which an end of the shaft 54 is'supported. The journal boxes 51 are in turn supported by and secured to the housing of the truck.

The control for the tilting mechanism comprises a hand lever 68 (Fig. 1), pivoted at 62, connected by suitable means, including a bar 63, to one arm of the bell crank 64, and a connecting link, including rod 65, which connects the other arm of bell crank 64 with the friction-wheelsupporting arm 32 (Fig. 2).

In operation, the friction wheels 44 and 44a rotate continuously and in the same direction whenever the motor I5 is in operation, as previously explained. When the hand lever 68 is in neutral or vertical position the position of the friction wheels 44 and 44a with respect to the flange 48 of the wheel 46 will be as shown in Fig. 3, that is, the periphery of each friction wheel will be out of frictional engagement with the flange 48. When the lever 68 is pulled in one direction, that is, when it is pulled to the left as viewed in Fig. 1, the rod 65 will be pulled upwardly causing the friction wheel 44a (Fig. 2) to be pressed into frictional contact with the outside of the flange 48 of the wheel 46, rotating wheel 46 in one' direction. Similarly when lever 68 is pushed to the right, as viewed in Fig. l, the other friction wheel 44 (Fig. 2) will be brought into frictional contact with the inside of the flange 48 of the wheel 46, resulting in rotation of wheel 46 in the opposite direction.

Consequently by moving the hand lever 68, the operator can cause wheel 46 to be moved in either direction or to remain at rest with the lever in neutral position. Movement of the wheel 46 produces pivotal movement, in a vertical plane, of the frame of the elevator or end-lift through the medium of the worm gears and ratchet means previously described.

Thus with the improvement provided by this present invention it is possible in an industrial truck of the type illustrated to use the motordriven shaft not only for driving the truck and raising or lowering the elevator or end-lift but also simultaneously for tilting the end-lift. Minor changes might of course be made in parts of the mechanism by which the tilting is produced in my invention without departing from the principle of the invention as set forth in the attached claims.

I claim: 3

1. In an industrial truck of the character described, an end-lift, a tiltable frame pivotally mounted on said truck s p orting said end-lift, a motor-driven shaft, a friction wheel-supporting arm mounted for movement in a vertical plane, a pair of spaced friction wheels rotatably supported on said arm, a pulley connected to each friction wheel, an endless belt passing around said pulleys, means connected with said motordriven shaft for driving said belt, whereby said pulleys and therewith said friction wheels will be rotated with said motor-driven shaft, a flanged wheel havingithe circumferential flange extending between said spaced friction wheels, means operated by saidflanged wheel for positioning said end-lift frame, a manual control for moving said friction. wheel-supporting arm, whereby movement of said arm to the limit in one direction will cause one of said friction wheels to engage the outside surface of said flange to rotate said flanged wheel in one direction and movement of said arm to the limit in the opposite direction will cause the other friction wheel to engage the inside surface of said flange and ro tate said flanged wheel in the reverse direction, and said flanged wheel will thus be caused to rotate in either direction to position the end-lift frame, or to remain at rest in neutral position,

' while the motor-driven shaft continues to rotate.

2. In an industrial truck of the character de scribed, an end-lift, a tiltable frame pivotallymounted on said truck supporting said end-lift, a motor-driven shaft, a pair'of clutch shafts located near to said motor-driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected to a driving wheel of said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to the end-lift of said truck, means connecting said clutch shafts to said motor-driven shaft, a manually-operated control for the said means for each clutch shaft, whereby each clutch, shaft may be rotated by said motor-driven shaft independently of'the other clutch shaft, means directly connected to said motor-driven shaft for positioning said end-lift frame independently of the operation of said clutch shafts, said lattermentioned means including a movable frictionwheel-supporting arm, a bracket mounted on said arm, a pair of parallel shafts supported for rotation in said bracket, a friction wheel and a pulley carried by each of said parallel shafts, an endless belt passing around said pulleys, means connected with said motor-driven shaft for driving said belt, whereby said pulleys and therewith said friction wheels will be rotated with said motor-driven shaft, a flanged wheel having a circumferential flange extending between said spaced friction wheels, means operated by said flanged wheel for positioning said end-lift frame, and a manual control for moving said friction-wheel: supporting arm, whereby movement of said arm in one direction will cause one of said friction wheels to engage the outside surface of said flange to rotate said flanged wheel in one direction and movement of said arm to the limit in the opposite direction will cause the other friction wheel to engage the inside surface of said flange and rotate said flanged wheel in the reversev direction, and said flanged wheel can thus be caused to retate in either direction to position the end-lift frame, or to remain at rest in neutral position, while the motor-driven shaft continues to rotate.

3. In an industrial truck of the character described, an end-lift, a tiltable frame pivotallymounted on said truck supporting said end-lift, a motor-driven shaft, a pair of parallel clutch shafts located near to said motor-driven shaft, one of said clutch shafts connected'to a driving wheel of said truck, the other of said clutch shafts connected to the end-lift of said truck, means directly connected to said motor-driven shaft for positioning said end-lift frame inde-,

pendently of the operation of said clutchshafts, said means including, a friction-wheel-supporting arm mounted for movement in a vertical plane, a bracket slidably mounted on said arm, a pair of parallel shafts supported for rotation in said bracket, a friction wheel and a pulley carried by each of said parallel shafts, an endless belt passing around said pulleys, means connected with said motor-driven shaft for driving said belt, whereby said pulleys and therewith said friction wheels will be rotated with said motordriven shaft, a flanged wheel having a circumferential flange extending between said spaced friction wheels, means operated by said flanged wheel for positioning said end-lift frame, and a manual control lever for moving said frictionwheel-supporting arm, whereby movement of said arm in one direction will cause one of said friction wheels to engage the outside surface of said flange to rotate said flanged wheel in one direction and movement of said arm to the limit in the opposite direction will cause the other friction wheel to engage the inside surface of said flange and rotate said flanged wheel in the reverse direction, and said flanged wheel can thus be caused to rotate in either direction to position the end-lift frame, or to remain at rest in neutral position, while the motor-driven shaft continues to rotate.

4. In an industrial truck of the character described, an end-lift, a tiltabl; framepivotallymounted on said truck supporting said end-lift,

a motor-driven shaft, means for positioning said end-lift frame including a movable frictionwheel-supporting arm, a bracket mountedon said arm, a. pair of parallel shafts supported for rotation in said bracket, a friction wheel and a pulley carried by each of said parallel shafts, an endless belt passing around said pulleys, means connedted with said motor-driven shaft for driving said belt, whereby said pulleys and therewith said friction wheels will be rotated with said m0- tor-driven shaft, a flanged wheel having a circumferential flange extending between said spaced friction wheels, means operated by said flanged wheel for positioning said end-lift frame, and a manual control for moving said frictionwheel-supporting arm, whereby movement of said arm in one direction will cause one of said friction wheels to engage the outside surface of said flange to rotate said flanged wheel in one direction and movement of said arm to the limit in the opposite direction will cause the other friction wheel to engage the inside surface of said flange and rotate said flanged wheel in the reverse direction, and said flanged wheel can thus be caused to rotate in either direction to position the end-lift frame, or to remain at rest in neutral position, while the motor-driven shaft continues to rotate.

SAMUEL WEISS. 

